“Yes, Jesus Loves You,” but Does He Love a Con Job?

What Ken Ham Isn’t Telling You About Ark Encounter Funding

It turns out the majority of Ark Encounter is being funded by a TIF granted by the City of Williamstown, Kentucky. On November 1, 2012, a Memorandum of Agreement(begins on page 55) approving $62 million in funding for Ark Encounter, LLC was signed by officials of Williamstown and the County of Grant.

It said that, over a 30-year period, 75% of Ark Encounter’s real estate taxes would go toward repayment of the interest-free TIF. So instead of that money going to the city (and the citizens), it’ll be used to repay those bonds.

Also — pay attention to this one, potential Ark Park staffers — all employees working within the TIF district (that is, Ark Encounter) will pay a 2% job assessment fee on gross wages. In other words, $2 out of every pre-tax $100 dollars you make will go directly to paying off the for-profit Noah’s Ark attraction.

Now that we know the specifics, we can decode Ham’s careful wording when he says, ”No unwilling taxpayer will subsidize the Ark.” He’s being truthful, as well as disturbingly deceptive. It’s true the Ark replica itself is being built entirely on donations. But taxpayers will absolutely pay a price through the subsidies for the land and the 75% property tax break he gets for the next 30 years.